


Any Time

by parttimehuman



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Brett understands, I wish I could say there's cuddling, Liam did a bad thing, M/M, They kind of hold hands though, almost, at least a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23050216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parttimehuman/pseuds/parttimehuman
Summary: Liam did something bad. Brett didn't have any part in it, so he probably should have run and saved his own ass, but instead he took Liam home with him. But what now?
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Brett Talbot
Comments: 8
Kudos: 53





	Any Time

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by number 59 from this prompt list.

“Can I sleep with you? I need someone by my side?”

Brett raised his head from the pillow and craned his neck to see Liam’s dark silhouette in the open door to Brett’s bedroom. 

“You have a strange way of flirting, dude. Anyone ever tell you that?” The sleepy growl in his voice made him sound more judgmental than intended. Brett would have wrapped Liam up in a blanket and tucked him in earlier, but it wasn’t who they were. Not to each other, anyway. 

“You’re a dick. Anyone ever tell you that?” Liam retorted. His voice on the other hand didn’t sound sleepy at all. Something made it sharp as a knife. 

“Plenty of people,” Brett replied. “Lost count.” 

“Good.” 

A moment later the shadows started moving and the mattress Brett was resting on dipped behind him. Liam didn’t demand a pillow or a share of the blanket. Brett could feel that he was trying to take up as little space as possible. Three seconds and he couldn’t stand it anymore. 

“What do you think you’re doing there?” He snapped, not meaning to sound quite so accusatory. He turned around to lie on the side and face Liam, who was still as a flat piece of wood. 

“Sleeping, ideally.”

“Oh yeah?” Brett cocked an eyebrow at him. “Like that? Good luck buddy.” 

“Fuck you.” 

“What? I made you a bed in the living room. If you’re so keen on pretending to be a dead body, why not do it there? It’s kind of freaking me out.” 

Liam pressed his eyes shut and exhaled aggressively. Even in the dark, Brett could see a muscle in his jaw working. 

“I told you,” Liam finally growled, “I need someone by my side.” 

“For what exactly?” Brett asked. He hadn’t exactly thought things through before taking Liam with him. It had been a decision made in a split second, based on nothing but pure instinct. He’d caught him red-handed. Literally. Could have left him and saved his own ass, made sure he wouldn’t be held guilty by association. 

Liam’s eyes had been wild, something more than dangerous in them. And something broken. 

He’d been like paralyzed, they’d barely made it out in time. Brett had taken him to his own home, washed off the blood and dirt, dressed a shivering little body in fresh clothes. There had been no plan beyond that and certainly no expectations regarding Liam’s reactions, but this? This was crazy. The wolf inside him thought so too. 

Liam’s voice was so quiet it almost could have been just a breeze entering through the cracked window. 

“To stop me.” 

Brett closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “Would you believe me if I told you you’re not the villain?” 

Liam shook his head lightly, gaze glued to the ceiling. “No.” 

“Okay. Not gonna say it then. Want me to chain you to the bed or something? Lock you in the closet? I could pay a visit to Eichen House tomorrow and see if they’ll let me borrow a straightjacket.”

“Are you-”

“Kidding, yeah. Obviously. I do have handcuffs in this room but I’m afraid they’re not the kind that would actually hold you back if you tried to escape them.” 

Liam was silent for a while after that. His guilt had been so strong for the past hours that Brett hadn’t been able to detect any other chemosignals. Now, slowly, something else was coming through, heavy and bitter, hard to place. 

“No handcuffs,” Liam said, “just you.” 

“Liam,” Brett sighed. He was way too exhausted to begin unpacking all of what he felt lay in those two last words. Liam didn’t let him say anything. 

“I know what you were doing after I first got bitten. You’re the only one who got it right. Don’t get me wrong, Scott is… I love him. Hell, I kind of even love Stiles a little. But Scott’s approach was to make me feel like we were brothers after he bit me. Like it was al a fun experience we got to share.” 

“Even a true alpha can’t know everything,” Brett said. Personally, he knew better than to believe a werewolf’s bite was a gift. 

“No, he can’t,” Liam agreed. “He didn’t know what my IED could do to me. He hadn’t seen it. You have. He hadn’t been around many young wolves. You have. He tried to show me my new strengths. You tried to show me my new weaknesses.” 

Liam wasn’t wrong. They both knew he’d only figured it out recently. Back when Brett was testing him on a daily basis, provoking him, tickling the anger he knew lived inside Liam next to the wolf until he would explode, Liam hadn’t known. He’d hated him with a passion and Brett had never blamed him. Good intentions hadn’t stopped him from loathing himself either. 

“I’m not one-hundred percent clear on why you did what you did for me,” Liam whispered, “but I hope there’s some of it left, whatever it was.” 

“I’ll stop you,” Brett promised, “but you have to do something for me in return.” 

Internally, Liam prepared for getting up and being left to deal with himself all on his own, Brett just knew it. He lifted his blanket up and said seriously, “You gotta get under here and at least try to relax. I swear that I’ll knock you out before you can do anything stupid, alright? But you gotta sleep, or else you’ll only get worse.” 

Liam bit his lip. Brett wasn’t denying his help, wasn’t even making any serious conditions, and yet it was enough for Liam to hesitate before he crawled under the blanket and covered himself with it. If he hadn’t, Brett wouldn’t have dared to reach out and grab his wrist, wrapping his fingers around it, the tip of his index finger resting against Liam’s pulse. 

Liam jerked at the touch, clearly willing himself not to jump out of the window and disappear into the night. Brett would have wrapped himself around Liam entirely to hold him, cradle him against his chest and pretend like his face in Liam’s hair wasn’t meant to leave kisses on the top of his head, but that was a secret. He wasn’t even pushing hard enough to place his palm against Liam’s palm and entwine their fingers. Not that night. 

“Thanks,” Liam muttered, the non-guilt scent settling into something more solid, hopefully permanent. He was fragile still. 

“Any time,” Brett whispered back, giving Liam’s wrist a squeeze. His heart felt like it was being squeezed at the same moment. The day had proven he meant it. 

Whatever it would take. 

Any time. 


End file.
